Enhanced Geothermal Shot

The Enhanced Geothermal Shot™ will help usher in a clean energy future by bringing enhanced geothermal systems to Americans nationwide. It is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE's) Energy Earthshots™ to tackle key remaining technical challenges to reaching the nation’s climate goals while creating jobs and economic opportunities for U.S. communities.

Drilling into Clean, Firm, Flexible Power

Only a small portion of the geothermal energy—the “heat beneath our feet” —that exists in the United States is accessible with current technology. However, research and innovation to advance enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), which create humanmade reservoirs to access energy that was previously stuck below ground, can unlock these resources and put new, clean, flexible electricity on the grid.

The Enhanced Geothermal Shot is a departmentwide effort to dramatically reduce the cost of EGS—by 90%, to $45 per megawatt hour by 2035. Investments in EGS can unlock affordable clean energy for over 65 million American homes and exponentially increase opportunities for geothermal heating and cooling solutions nationwide.  

The geothermal industry has the potential to become a powerhouse of U.S. economic growth, with particular benefits for rural communities. In addition, the geothermal and oil and gas industries share many similarities, presenting an opportunity to transition a skilled workforce as well as best practices from fossil fuels to clean energy, and help communities historically impacted by fossil fuel production and use transition to clean energy.  

The U.S. geothermal project construction industry can grow to more than $10 billion per year starting in 2030—creating good-paying jobs and continuing U.S. leadership in renewable energy. 

Geothermal at the Salton Sea, California

Earthshots Initiative

The climate crisis calls for a different kind of moonshot. Energy Earthshots will accelerate breakthroughs of more abundant, affordable, and reliable clean energy solutions within the decade.  They will drive the major innovation breakthroughs that we know we must achieve to solve the climate crisis, reach our 2050 net-zero carbon goals, and create the jobs of the new clean energy economy. The Energy Earthshots target the remaining solution points of the most challenging technical problems across our energy economy.
 

About EERE

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The Power of Enhanced Geothermal Systems

 

Learn about enhanced geothermal systems and how they will help access geothermal energy in more places nationwide.

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